I served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Development at Paramount Pictures, A Viacom Company. At Paramount, I had been responsible for establishing digital strategy and helping to drive the companies most public partnerships such as the Apple Itunes, Amazon, and Walmart partnerships. Prior to joining Paramount in 2006, I led the global wireless strategy and development team for Windows Media® at Microsoft Corp., pushing entertainment convergence within the wireless space. I have been at the forefront of media and technology for more than a decade and am nationally recognized as an influential leader in the film and high-tech industries.
Before joining Microsoft, I was an entrepreneur of successful media and technology companies, including the post-production feature film industry’s first all-digital post-production sound design and editing facility, located in Burbank, Calif.
I was appointed as executive vice president for the world’s largest streaming media aggregator and later as chairman and chief executive officer of a digital media security company. I also helped pioneer the development of key technologies used by copyright owners in preventing piracy of music and films over the Internet’s peer-to-peer community.
I started my career in Los Angeles, where I spearheaded a production company called Goodbro Pictures with Hollywood star and partner Cuba Gooding Jr. I was Gooding’s personal manager and later executive producer through several critically acclaimed and successful films, including the popular “Jerry Maguire,” for which Gooding earned an Academy Award.
In addition, in May 2002, I founded the Distributed Computing Industry Association (DCIA) www.dcia.info , a nonprofit organization working toward a viable framework for the Internet peer-to-peer community agreeable to copyright owners, consumers and consumer electronic industries.
I spend my time speaking, consulting and writing. In addition, I lecture to law students at the University of Southern California on the wide diversity of issues surrounding copyright owners and the digital age. I also teach at the Los Angeles Regional Technology Alliance (LARTA) University and serve as a consultant and on the boards of emerging and fast-growth technology companies. I'm also a contributing editor to LA VOX, Los Angeles’ leading voice in technology.

Chick-Fil-A Day Not What The Media Portrays

In case you missed it, about a week ago Dan Cathy, the president of the very popular fast food chain, said, “We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit.” That comment started a firestorm.

The LBGT community began to try to convince people to boycott Chick-fil-A regardless of the fact that the popular chain doesn’t discriminate against gays as employees or patrons. That doesn’t seem to matter in this case. It appears as though they just want to punish someone for his protected free speech. They apparently convinced some in government to support the boycott. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said “Chick-fil-A does not represent Chicago values.” I guess Chick-fil-A needs to have a few murders per day in their stores to meet his standard? Not sure what “Chicago values” are but, right now isn’t the time to make Chicago the standard for values.

For the first time in my life, today I visited a Chick-fil-A to show my support for Cathy’s right to free speech, answering the call of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who had proclaimed today “Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day.” I live in LA so, I was not expecting much in way of support but, I was not just surprised, I was blown away. The Chick-fil-A in Northridge, California, had a line that twisted throughout the parking lot. It was almost 100 degrees but, that didn’t seem to deter anyone. They were peaceful and the demographic was wide ranging. Blacks, whites, teenagers, kids, Latinos and all other categories you could imagine. At this location there were no anti-Chick-fil-A protesters.

So, how was the chicken? Amazing! Now I know why people love this place. The store was run extremely well. Clean, polite and efficient. The staff brought water to those in line, they handed out umbrellas for protection from the sun and they served delicious food quickly. This has been replicated across the nation. This huge one day movement involving millions of supporters made their opinions heard and voted with their money and presence. It has been estimated that the chain will have booked almost $100 million in revenue or more just today.

When I returned home I turned on the news to see how this would be reported. NBC in Los Angeles chose to focus on the protesters. Not the ones supporting Chick-fil-A but, the ones protesting the supporters. The protesters were a tiny fraction compared to the supporters, yet the media focused 90% of their attention on those few. This does not represent the truth of the actual event. The meme from the anti-Chick-fil-A groups proclaim that opposition to gay marriage is anti-gay.

To make it worse, the fast food Wendy’s chain tweeted ” we proudly serve everyone” insinuating that Chick-fil-A doesn’t serve everyone. They quickly deleted the tweet as they were corrected by thousands in the twitter sphere.

The issue simply isn’t so simple. For thousands of years marriage has been defined by religion as between a man and a woman. In the past, couples were married by their church, not the state, up until people began requesting legal support from the state to define their separation or divorce. For most Christians, this has never been about equal rights but about attaching gay marriage to the definition defined by the bible. Christians get married before God and not the state. The state has laws that protect and grant couples’ rights based on that marriage. I, nor most Christians I know, have never opposed gay couples having equal rights to heterosexual couples, they have only been opposed to the church being forced to redefine what it has recognized as marriage for thousands of years within the church.

Isn’t it time we be truthful about this debate? The manipulation about these sensitive issues within our media needs to stop if we are ever going to solve this very important and very sensitive issue. You can see by this picture I took, there were no protestors within my view. You be the judge.

Chick-Fil-A Northridge, Ca 8/1/12

Correction: Dan Cathy is the president and COO of Chick-fil-A. I previously wrote that he was the CEO.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

There’s a huge distinction between what you’re saying and what the very name of the day is saying. It’s not “Support Chick-Fil-A (‘s right to free speech) Day” it’s “Appreciate Chick-Fil-A,” meaning appreciate their actions.

I have to disagree with how you framed the issue. I’m on the political left and almost everyone I know supports same-sex marriage; but they also almost universally support a church’s right to deny that sacriment to gay couples. Are we talking past each other here? If we call it a “civil union” and simply state that everywhere in civil law, a civil union grants all of the same rights as a marriage, then are we all good? Is the debate and controversy really over just semantics; that is — over what we call it when gay couples “marry?”

Here in Colorado, for example, we were extremely close to getting civil unions with bipartisan support, but at the last minute the GOP backed out because they thought “civil unions” were too similar to marriage. Forget that DOMA is still in place and that blocks all of the federal rights (over 1,100). Civil unions would’ve only granted the state benefits (around 400).

It also didn’t help that Focus on the Family (one of the hate groups Chick-fil-A has been known to donate to) got involved with the politics here in a big way.

Which bring me to my other point: that for me, at least, this boycott isn’t about freedom of speech. I couldn’t care less what the CEO thinks, but I DO care about the huge donations that Chick-fil-A has been making to organizations that exist solely to strip the rights away from a minority.

Especially since said organizations run ads linking homosexuality to pedophilia, claiming that teachers are going to be forced to teach sexuality to young kids, that churches are going to be forced to perform gay weddings, that homosexuality can be cured, etc. THAT’S what makes me angry.

Hi Derek, I’m a bit surprised by this comment. WinShape, the clearing house for the donations that Chevalier is talking about, is clearly affiliated with Chick-fil-A ( http://www.chick-fil-a.com/Company/Winshape ). You’re right that it was founded by Chick-fil-A CEO Truett Cathy, but it is largely funded by Chick-fil-A, to the tune of almost $15 million in 2009, for example: http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990pf_pdf_archive/581/581595471/581595471_200912_990PF.pdf . The money is listed under two separate donations, one from “Chick-fil-A” and the other from “CFA Properties”, which is also Chick-fil-A. And almost $20 million in 2010 ( http://dynamodata.fdncenter.org/990pf_pdf_archive/581/581595471/581595471_201012_990PF.pdf ).

I agree with your position entirely. However, according to a recent blog post in Nerdwallet, the company of Chick-fil-A has donated slightly over $8 million to charities which support strengthing traditional marriage. The article can be found at: http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/finance/2012/chickfila-support-family-closer-numbers/

It isn’t about a word. that is a red-herring. It is about heterosexual supremacy and instilling that supremacy in law. Just like white supremacy of the past, this is the latest attempt to maintain the old pillars of power in society: white, straight (publicly) men.

I said just that for years! I don’t care if it’s called rainbow kitten party as long as I get my rights. The problem as I seee it is that there are a lot of older gays pushing the movement and many of them identify as Christians. I don’t think they have any intention of changing anyone elses religion but they certianly do have the right to live Christianity any way they choose in this free nation. Churches who don’t agree with their lifestyle will be free to deny them as long as they aren’t suckling the government teat.

I agree that the media is blowing this up and trying to incite hatred where it doesn’t exist (which, unlike homosexuality, is one of the seven deadly sins from Proverbs 6).

Anyway, Focus on the Family has been around a LONG time, way before gay marriage was an issue on the public’s radar. They’ve been doing their thing supporting various Christian values, publishing stuff, doing radio programs, etc. It is a gross error to say they “exist solely to strip the rights away from a minority”.

In fact, even if their only goal was to keep out gay marriage, it would still be quite a stretch to say that that is stripping away rights from a minority (how can you strip away what hasn’t yet existed?)

Sorry Derek, but you are dead wrong on this. The WinShape Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the Chick-fil-a corporation, has made millions in donations to anti-gay groups. I have no idea what Cathy has personally given.

Among the many groups to receive donations through Chick-fil-A’s WinShape Foundation, which was created by Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy in 1984, were the Marriage & Family Foundation ($1,188,380), Exodus International ($1,000) and the Family Research Council (also $1,000), Equality Matters reported.

Meanwhile, The New Civil Rights Movement’s David Badash presents an even more disturbing figure: that Chick-fil-A has donated an estimated $5 million to anti-gay organizations and hate groups between 2003 and 2010.

Calling an organization a hate group because they disagree with you is a serious fail. It is both intellectually dishonest and mean spirited.

I would say homosexuals have done a good job linking themselves to pedophiles. If one is gay at birth then why should the pedophile not also say they are pedophiles by birth and demand the same rights all races have? Don’t be angry with Christians who see where the gays are taking our nation.

Would you please provide us with link to the ads that you spoke of so we can address them accurately?

Anti-gay or pro traditional family. You stating the organizations are anti-gay is not an honest portrayal. They are not against homosexuals, however they do feel that men having sex with men and women having sex with women is wrong according to scripture.

May Utar offer a perspective on this point from the British experience?

In Britain, same sex couples can elect to unite under secular law in a contract known as a civil parntership which confers all rights equivalent to a marriage in law. Despite this, LGBT activists are pushing for marriage redefinition with a very real prospect of this becoming law before 2015 in England and Scotland

While secular parity is the correct thing to do it will not halt the demands for the right to be married. To that end it will not stop until the state fully exits the marriage business, possibly the civil partnership business and simply becomes an arbiter of a private contract.

I’m curious as to what “rights” are supposedly currently denied to gay couples since they cannot “marry”?

Tax breaks? Declare your partner as a dependent, and make sure he/she does not declare independent.

Hospital visitation? I believe power of attorney laws cover this.

Next of kin/inheritance? Write up a will.

The right to marry? Homosexuals can marry anyone of the opposite sex they can convince to marry them, just like heterosexuals. Many do, and occasionally find happiness and fulfillment in these marriage.

All the rights that homosexuals say they are denied thru being denied marriage are currently obtainable Thur existing laws, and a decent enough tax account and lawyer. So what rights are denied? The right to forcibly use the courts and the legislature to radically redefine a social institution that is deemed by the majority essential to Western civilization in a manner that definitely does not serve to strengthen the institutions of marriage and the family, but may possibly weaken them, all against the will of the People? Last I checked, no such right exists.

“Gay marriage” is not about rights. It is about progressing towards a society that treats homosexuals like a protected class so they no longer have to endure the religious criticisms of their behavior. Criticisms that are protected by the first amendment. It is about setting up a legal structure that will give the gay community the power to tell people who think their behaviors are aberrant, abnormal, or unnatural to keep it to themselves, or face legal sanctions.

yes, it is completely about “semantics.” As the author indicated, marriage has religious connotations. Christians view marriage as a sacred union, likened to Christ’s relationship with the church. Those things that detract from the sacred nature of the word “marriage” would also include divorce, premarital sex, adultery: things that the church is also against.words mean things. it is how we communicate our ideas, and ideas matter.

I personally disagree with the writer of this comment, I personally know focus on the family people, and have followed their ministry for 45 years.. this hate word these people are using is a concoction to any other persons that disagree with them.. focus on the family has many ministries to the gay community.. lead by ex gay, called exodus, they like Christ love the gays and extend that love, which can be extended without agreeing or condoning the lifestyle .. so sick of the other side calling anyone or any organization that that does not agree with them haters..

That is my point. The word Marriage was adopted by the state. It was not theirs to use adopt. They should have a different word for same sex as well as heterosexual couples. I am fine giving that to the state and keep marriage between my wife and my church.

I’m curious Derek, What is your personal definition of Marriage? Not the churches or the bibles. To me Marriage is between two people that love each other entirely and want to spend the rest of their lives together. That is my definition of marriage. I’ll be curious to read your reply and anyone elses that wants to offer their personal definition of marriage.